Sept. 12, 2008
Center Valley, Pa. - After posting an impressive 6-1 non-League record on the season's first full weekend, Patriot League football squads will have another exciting round of action on Saturday with the League opener and two games against ranked teams on tap.
Lafayette and Georgetown will battle for the early lead in the Patriot League standings, with the Leopards hosting the Hoyas in a 6 p.m. kickoff. Lehigh and Colgate play nationally-ranked programs in non-League action, with the Mountain Hawks visiting No. 21 Villanova and the Raiders playing their home opener against No. 23 Furman. Fordham and Bucknell take to the road, with the Rams going to Dayton and Bucknell at Robert Morris. All of the non-League games begin at 1 p.m., and each squad in action this weekend goes in search of its second consecutive victory after triumphing last week.
Colgate senior running back Jordan Scott has a chance to leave his mark on the Patriot League record book once again. Scott, a candidate for the Walter Payton Award, needs just 172 yards to pass Lafayette's Erik Marsh (1991-94) to become the Patriot League's all-time leading rusher. Scott became the League's all-time carries leader last week, and his 1,062 carry total is just 62 off of the FCS record and 153 away from a Division I mark.
Take a look below at previews for Saturday's action, along with game notes from each of the Patriot League institutions. For Monday's full Patriot League Football release, click here
This Week in the Patriot League
Lehigh (1-0, 0-0) at No. 21/21 Villanova (0-1, 0-0 CAA)
Villanova Stadium; Villanova, Pa. - Saturday, 1 p.m.
Series Lehigh, 5-4
Streak Villanova, One Win Last Meeting Villanova, 30-20 (9.8.07)
Last Lehigh Win 31-28 (9.9.06) Last Five Meetings Villanova, 4-1
Lehigh Head Coach Andy Coen, Gettysburg, 1986
Career Record 12-11 (3rd Season) Overall/Lehigh; 7-5 Patriot League
Villanova Head Coach Andy Talley, Southern Connecticut, 1967
Career Record 183-117-1 Overall/155-99-1 (24th Season) at Villanova
Lehigh faces Villanova for the fourth time in the last five seasons in a series dominated by the road team...Since the teams re-newed the series in 2004, the road team has won all three contests, with Villanova triumphing in 2004 and 2007 and Lehigh winning in 2006...The 31-28 victory in 2006 was the first career win for Lehigh Head Coach Andy Coen...Prior to 2004, the teams had not met since 1927...Villanova's only action to date was a 48-21 loss at West Virginia...Patriot League teams are just 3-17 against Villanova.
Lehigh Notebook Lehigh shut out Drake, 19-0, in the first meeting between the schools on Saturday...The Mountain Hawks ended a two-game losing streak in both season and home openers, and Head Coach Andy Coen earned his first victory in each of those contests...The Lehigh defense pitched its first opening-day shutout since beating Davidson, 47-0, in 1987...The Lehigh defense allowed just 125 total yards and seven net rushing yards, marks that place them in the top five nationally...Running back Matt McGowan tallied a career-high 39 carries for 172 yards...It was the most carries for a Lehigh running back since Jermaine Pugh had 42 in 2002...Quarterback J.B. Clark was 9-of-12 for 146 yards and two touchdowns in his first career start...His 85-yard touchdown pass to Sekou Yansane was the second-longest in Goodman Stadium history.
Fordham (1-0, 0-0) at Dayton (1-0, 0-0 Pioneer)
Welcome Stadium; Dayton, Ohio - Saturday, 1 p.m.
Series Dayton, 3-0
Streak Dayton, Three Wins Last Meeting Dayton 31-24 (9.22.07)
Fordham Head Coach Tom Masella, Wagner, 1981
Career Record 29-38 (7th Season) Overall/12-12 (3rd Season) at Fordham; 6-6 PL
Dayton Head Coach Rick Chamberlain, Dayton, 1980
Career Record 1-0 (1st Season) Overall/Dayton
Fordham and Dayton face off for the second year in a row...The Flyers won at Fordham, 31-24, in 2007 on their way to an 11-1 season...Dayton's current eight-game win streak is the longest for an FCS team...Prior to last year's matchup, the teams had not played since 1979...Patriot League teams are 1-2 all-time against Dayton...It is the second of two games this season against teams from the Pioneer Football League, with Lehigh beating Drake, 19-0, in the earlier meeting last week...Fordham has won its first road game in each of Head Coach Tom Masella's two seasons.
Fordham Notebook Fordham won its season and home opener, 16-0, over Rhode Island on Sunday...It was the first victory in a home opener for third-year Head Coach Tom Masella, and the first overall since beating C.W. Post in 2003...Fordham's defense notched seven sacks and held Rhode Island to -26 net rushing yards, a mark that makes them No. 1 nationally in rushing defense...It was the first time a Fordham defense held an opponent to negative rushing yards since moving to FCS in 1989...The win was also the first opening day shutout since beating Lafayette, 23-0, in 1998, and first of any kind since a 14-0 win over Albany in 2004...Quarterback John Skelton threw for 267 yards, with scoring strikes of 87 and 50 yards...Running back Xavier Martin posted a career-high 169 yards on the ground.
No. 23 Furman (1-1, 0-0 Southern) at Colgate (1-1, 0-0)
Andy Kerr Stadium; Hamilton, N.Y. - Saturday, 1 p.m.
Series First Meeting TV Time Warner Sports
Furman Head Coach Bobby Lamb, Furman, 1986
Career Record 44-20 (6th Season) Overall/Furman
Colgate Head Coach Dick Biddle, Duke, 1971
Career Record 96-47 (13th Season) Overall/Colgate; 57-16 Patriot League
Colgate plays an opponent for a first series meeting for the third time in as many games this season...The Raiders have previously lost to Stony Brook and defeated Coastal Carolina in inaugural matchups...Colgate also plays its home opener against the Paladins...The Raiders have won two consecutive and four of the last five home openers...Colgate Head Coach Dick Biddle is 7-5 all-time in home openers...Patriot League teams are 0-2 all-time against Furman, with the last matchup coming when Lehigh fell to the Paladins in the 2001 I-AA quarterfinals...It is the only contest for a Patriot League team against a Southern Conference foe this season, and the first matchup between the leagues since Lafayette lost at eventual national champion Appalachian State in the first round of the 2005 postseason.
Colgate Notebook The Raiders defeated Coastal Carolina, 23-19, when Ryan Meyers recovered a bad snap on a field goal attempt and threw to Adrien Schreifer for a touchdown as time expired... Colgate Head Coach Dick Biddle earned his 96th career win, passing Andy Kerr (1929-46) for the most in school history...Colgate was the first Patriot League team to face Coastal Carolina...The Raiders have not started a season 0-2 for six consecutive years...Running back Jordan Scott had 43 carries for 190 yards in the victory...Scott became the Patriot League's all-time carries leader with 1,062, and is now 172 yards away from breaking the League rushing record of 4,834 held by Lafayette's Erik Marsh (1991-94)...Scott is in third place in League annals with 4,663 career rushing yards...He has 14 consecutive 100-yard games, and 25 career 100-yard efforts...Colgate played without starting quarterback Alex Relph at Coastal Carolina.
Bucknell (1-0, 0-0) at Robert Morris (1-0, 0-0 NEC)
Joe Walton Stadium; Moon Township, Pa. - Saturday, 1 p.m.
Series First Meeting
Bucknell Head Coach Tim Landis, Randolph Macon, 1986
Career Record 77-85-1 (16th Season) Overall/24-33 (6th Season) Bucknell; 12-19 PL
Robert Morris Head Coach Joe Walton, Pittsburgh, 1957
Career Record 87-55-1 (15th Season) Overall/Robert Morris
The Bison play Robert Morris for the first time in program history...It is Bucknell's second consecutive game against a member of the Northeast Conference after beating Duquesne, 48-42, to open the season...The games are the only matchups between the Patriot League and NEC in 2008...The Bison have lost their first road game of the year in three of the past four campaigns, but did win at Duquesne to begin the 2007 season...Bucknell is playing just the second game for a Patriot League team against Robert Morris, with Towson beating the Colonials in 1997.
Bucknell Notebook The Bison defeated Duquesne to open the season for the third year in a row, and now have a five-game win streak in the series overall and a 5-0 mark under Head Coach Tim Landis...Bucknell has won two consecutive games for the first time since winning the final game of the 2006 season and the first contest of 2007...The 48-42 Bison win marked the most combined points (90) in a Bucknell season opener, and Bucknell's 48 points were the most in a season opener for the Bison since 1926...Wide receiver Shaun Pasternak had a career day with seven receptions for 166 yards...The 166 yards give him the highest receiving yards per game average in the FCS...A.J. Kizekai had 98 yards on the ground, just missing his first 100-yard rushing day.
Georgetown (1-0, 0-0) at Lafayette (1-0, 0-0)
Fisher Stadium; Easton, Pa. - Saturday, 6 p.m.
Series Lafayette, 8-3 TV Lafayette Sports Network (RCN-4 and WBPH-60)
Streak Lafayette, Four Wins Last Meeting Lafayette, 28-7 (9.8.07)
Last Five Meetings Lafayette, 4-1
Georgetown Head Coach Kevin Kelly, Springfield, 1982
Career Record 4-19 (3rd Season) Overall/Georgetown; 1-11 Patriot League
Lafayette Head Coach Frank Tavani, Lebanon Valley, 1975
Career Record 46-46 (9th Season) Overall/Lafayette; 28-23 Patriot League
Lafayette goes in search of its fifth consecutive win over Georgetown, and its fifth consecutive victory overall dating back to last season...The Leopards won last year's matchup, 28-7, in Washington, D.C...The Hoyas only win in the series as a Patriot League member came in Easton, 17-10, on October 4, 2003...Lafayette has held Georgetown to 17 points or less in every matchup as Patriot League members, and the Leopards hold a 6-1 edge in League tilts...Lafayette Head Coach Frank Tavani (46-46) is trying to go over the .500 mark for his career...Lafayette holds a 2-1 advantage in games played in Easton.
Georgetown Notebook The Hoyas came back in the fourth quarter to knock off Howard, 12-7, on Sunday...They earned the inaugural D.C. Challenge Cup Trophy...Third-year Head Coach Kevin Kelly won in a season opener for the first time, with the Hoyas recording their first victory to begin the year since beating Bucknell to begin the 2005 campaign...It was Georgetown's first meeting with crosstown rival Howard, and the first matchup of Division I teams in Washington, D.C. since 1950...Freshman quarterback James Brady hit Kenny Mitchell with a 31-yard touchdown strike for the winning points early in the fourth quarter, and Chris Parker recovered a fumble in the final minute to preserve the win...The Hoya defense recorded four sacks and forced four turnovers...Georgetown has never started a season with a 2-0 record since joining the Patriot League.
Lafayette Notebook The Leopards won their fourth consecutive game overall with a 28-6 triumph at Marist to open the season...The four-game winning streak is tied for fifth-longest in the country...Head Coach Frank Tavani improved to an even 46-46 for his career, and has led Lafayette to seven consecutive opening-day wins...Lafayette's defense held Marist to 95 total yards, making them the No. 1-ranked unit the country...Lafayette finished the 2007 season as the top defense in the country, giving up 260 yards per game...The Leopards posted 430 yards of total offense, with 212 rushing yards and two touchdowns for running back Maurice White...White currently leads the nation with the 212 rushing yards per game...Buck Buchanan Award candidate Andy Romans had 10 tackles, one sack and one fumble recovery.
Team Notebook
Holy Cross Notebook Holy Cross began its year with a heartbreaking, 45-42, loss at home to No. 4 Massachusetts...The Minutemen scored the winning points on a 42-yard field goal as time expired...The Crusaders had the highest point total against the Massachusetts defense since Delaware scored 51 points in a triple overtime game in 2003...Holy Cross led, 28-14, in the second quarter...After falling behind, 35-28, the Crusaders rallied to tie the score at 35 and then to knot the game up again at 42-42 with 2:22 left...Quarterback Dominic Randolph went 28-of-44 for 249 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions, while Brett McDermott had an 88-yard kickoff return for a touchdown...Randolph moved into the Patriot League top 10 in career completions and attempts, and is 13th in League annals in both passing and total yardage...Terrance Gass caught 10 passes for 58 yards and had a pair of rushing touchdowns...Holy Cross returns to action on Sept. 19 at Harvard at 7 p.m.
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